"Healthy Start is to give children the best possible nutritional start in life. Ensuring a healthy diet from the beginning of life will set children up for a healthy future.

"The Welfare Food Scheme supported many families but pregnant women and parents needed greater flexibility. We wanted to give them more choice about what they can buy with the vouchers to see their children have a healthy, balanced diet.

"Giving children a Healthy Start will help tackle health inequalities caused by poor diet especially around infant mortality which is disproportionately high among mothers in younger age groups."